The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the November 4, 2008 election was conducted fairly, impartially, and accurately. …

After seven weeks of trial, the factual record is devoid of any allegations of fraud, tampering, or security breaches on Election Day, during the recount process, or during the election contest. …

The citizens of Minnesota should be proud of their election system. Minnesota has one of the highest voter-participation rates in the country. The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State and election officials throughout Minnesota’s counties and cities are well-trained, fair, and conscientious and performed their duties admirably. Minnesota could not conduct elections without the hard work and diligence of its dedicated professionals and citizen volunteers, and the Court is proud of their service.

Cops and fairy tales Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan gets major ink in the Strib for his claim that all of the questions raised in the Fong Lee family’s lawsuit are “a fairy tale that’s being told in my view by attorneys for the plaintiffs.” The Strib notes that the only facts not in dispute are that, “A Russian-made Baikal .380-caliber gun was found near Lee’s body. The same gun was stolen from North Side resident Dang Her in 2004.”

Dolan said that Her’s Russian gun was never found. Her said in an affidavit that police notified him that they had found his gun in a snowbank and that it was in police custody. A paperwork mistake, Dolan said, insisting that the gun recovered by police was a Belgian gun. A police officer filed a “corrected” report the day after Fong Lee was shot. The corrected report showed that gun in police custody was the Belgian gun. That, says Dolan, is the truth.

Dolan also dismissed claims by Ron Edwards, Al Flowers and Zachary Metoyer that, just days after the shooting, he had claimed Fong Lee’s fingerprints were found on the gun. “I never told anybody there were fingerprints on that gun,” Dolan said. “That’s a lie. It’s not the first time we’ve had a lie from that direction.”

Somali youth and the FBI Abdi Aynte, a Somali-American journalist now working for BBC, returns to the Minnesota Independent to tell the inside story of the impact of FBI investigation and Somali youth departures on the Minnesota Somali community.

Whether the missing youth radicalized and financed themselves, or whether they have been actively recruited by certain individuals within the community, the negative impact of the story can hardly be overstated.

Last week, FBI agents raided the Minneapolis offices of money transfer business — a key lifeline for millions of Somalis who depend on monthly remittances from loved ones in the diaspora. Though the offices were not closed, the episode was another blow to a community shaken by fear, confusion and uncertainty….

That uncertainty surrounding the subject of the investigation is bedeviling the community. Returning to Somalia for any reason — marriage, traditional medical treatments or a just to visit family — is cause for intense scrutiny.

Around the world in 90 seconds The Thai army has succeeded in suppressing protests, reports BBC. “Speaking to the BBC from hiding, one protest leader said the retreat was “an honourable decision to save lives” but vowed that the movement would continue.”

President Obama lifted all restrictions on travel and money transfers by Cuban-Americans to Cuba,reports NPR. Legislation to ease travel restrictions for other visitors is pending in Congress. According to the NYT, Obama “is also allowing telecommunications companies to pursue licensing agreements in Cuba,” and the State Department is reviewing all U.S. Cuba policy.

The Taliban, following their own twisted version of law, executed a young couple who had eloped to be married against parental wishes, reports BBC. “The man, 21, and woman, 19, were shot dead on Monday in front of a mosque in the south-western province of Nimroz” in Afghanistan. “[Nimroz] Governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad told the AFP news agency the killings followed a decree by local religious leaders and were an ‘insult to Islam.'”

Headline of the dayFrom BBC: “Chemical makeup of elephants’ tail hairs shows how they compete”

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Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health care for 9 million children and 375,000 pregnant women in working families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for private insurance. Working families like Bob Cratchit’s family. You remember Bob Cratchit. He worked for old Ebenezer Scrooge, and he didn’t make much […]

Old Scrooge, before he repented, thought the poor and disabled might as well die and reduce the surplus population. He would have loved this tax bill, which is likely to reduce the surplus population by, among other things, reducing access to chemotherapy for Medicare patients with cancer. The tax bill also eliminates tax deductions for […]

If you are confused about the “tax cut” bill, you are not alone. I took two semesters of tax law way back in the day, and I do my own taxes every year, so here’s my explanation of just one of the ways the “tax reform” cuts taxes but actually leaves you paying more.

Want to open the faucet and see brown, gritty, unsafe water? Move to St. Joseph, Louisiana, where the town’s water system is irreparably fouled by decades of neglect. The impoverished town is not alone, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting: “St. Joseph, population 1,029, is one of thousands of small towns across the country […]

UPDATE WITH CORRECTION 10/6/17 – see below: Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and repentance. It is a day to reflect on what we have done wrong in the past year, and to ask forgiveness. Unless you are the president of the United States. Then it is a day to attack anyone who dares […]